Books are useless not
by Kendra PJO
Summary: This is not Annabeth's day. One thing piles on top of another, and nothing goes her way. Finally, one innocent comment tips the balance. References include many books in a high schooler's curriculum. I own none of them!


**I own nothing, just like every other author on this site. That's why it's called FAN fiction.**

Annabeth blamed the hellhounds. If it wasn't for them, her entire day would have been moderately good, for a first day of school.

She should start at the beginning. Today was her first day of school since the Giant War. Contrary to most demigods (and mortals), she enjoyed school. Her parentage might have something to do with it, daughter of Athena and everything. Either way, she was taking the subway to her school when a gigantic black hellhound appeared out of the shadows. Mortals panicked. A few kids tried to pet the 'doggie', and their parents pulled them away.

All in all, Annabeth wasn't impressed. She had seen Tartarus and Gaea. She wasn't afraid of a measly hellhound. As the monster turned his attention to the moving targets, Annabeth casually strolled to his rear. Her plan was simple: Impale him from behind as the panicked mortals kept his attention.

Unfortunately, plans hardly ever work the way they are supposed to. As Annabeth drew her drakon bone sword, the hellhound turned on one paw to meet the greater challenge. She hadn't gone through almost 10 years of training for no reason though. While the hellhound was off balance from his turn, she rushed forward and stabbed him between his front legs. It wasn't the orthodox way to kill a hellhound, and Annabeth figured out why: standing under a disintegrating monster was comparable to taking a sand shower. That's when she knew for sure that today would be an awful day.

With the monster sent back to Tartarus, Annabeth realized for the first time that her subway had long since passed. She lunged for the stairs, deciding that running at this point was faster than waiting another 20 minutes.*

"Annabeth Chase, you are very late," the teacher intones at the front of the room. "Where is your excuse?"

She slips a pass from the office off the top of her enormous stack of books. "Here," she eagerly replies. "I'm so sorry, my puppy was misbehaving, and then I missed my train."

"Very well, you are excused, but only this once." The teacher tells her. Annabeth hides a smile. All the teachers are lenient about her being late, since she is always apologetic and pays attention in class.

However, the teacher is the least of her problems. She isn't an Aphrodite kid, but even she notices that her clothes are caked in dust and smell awful. The jerks in her class soon take notice as well, and start dropping little comments. "Don't you understand how to work a shower?" "Is your dad too drunk to take care of you?" "You have a little something right… Oh wait, everywhere!"

Annabeth took a deep breath. Her intelligence told her the mortals were simply jealous of her natural confidence, even covered in dirt. Her warrior side told her to take revenge on every comment. For now, the intelligence won, but it didn't stop each comment from piling up like snowdrifts inside of her.

The final straw came at lunch. By then, Annabeth had cleaned herself up as much as possible, but the students were still making wild guesses as to where Annabeth could have gotten so dirty. Annabeth focused on eating, but couldn't help listening to the conversations around her.

Suddenly, she heard from the table behind her: "Seriously? Look at this freakin' book list. They are pointless and full of hard words! Why must the teachers torture us like this?"

Something snapped inside Annabeth. The books on the booklist were her personal favorites- she had helped pick them out. She spun around and stomped over to the girl who had spoken.

"Look, GIRL. Books are not pointless, nor are they there to torture us. They teach us lessons from history, so we don't make the same mistakes. They transport us to another world to teach us more about our reality. They capture our hearts and imaginations. Do you have anything to say to that?"

The snotty girl slowly nodded, but Annabeth was just getting started. She reached into her backpack and started pulling out books from it.

"First: 'Greek Architecture Through the Ages'. A nonfiction investigation of how the Greeks have influenced architecture through the centuries. It is informative and useful to anyone planning to be an architect major in college.

"Next is 'Romeo and Juliet'. This is a timeless tragedy of two lovers from rival families. 400 years later, it is still taught in schools because Shakespeare's language is one of a kind, and the struggles his characters go through are still pertinent today. It has been translated into over 80 languages.

"'The Great Gatsby'. An outstanding tale of life on the east coast in the 1920's. It tells the story of life and love on the East Coast. It reports the mistakes of past generations so that this one may do better.

"'To Kill a Mockingbird' is a startling multilayered tale of love and hate, humor and pathos, dark and light. This story of racism is told through the eyes of an innocent young girl, which gives it unique perspective.

"The Host': Though relatively new, this science fiction book raises many questions of what the essence of humanity truly is. It contemplates a wide range of emotions, from a mother's love to the burning hatred of an enemy. It is sure to become a classic.

"Each of these books, and so many others, have told their stories to billions of people across the world. Oral tales have guided humans since the very origin of the species _Homo sapiens. _Yet you DARE complain about a book being too challenging for your tiny brain to ponder?!"

By this time, Annabeth was shouting across the lunchroom, because the snotty girl had fled.

"I hate to say this," she told her friends as she quietly sat back down. "But that felt really good."

**BAM! Go Annabeth! I had fun writing this. Try to guess which books I have read and which I haven't.**


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